To many it sounds like a contradiction of terms. The 1998 Tour de France en Irlande. Some people are still wondering why the biggest cycling race in the world is coming all the way to Ireland for three days before packing up lock, stock and barrel and going back to France for another three weeks.
It's a simple story really and it involves three cyclists, an imaginative Tour de France organisation, and a man in high places.
Shay Elliot was Ireland's first professional cyclist and in 1963 became the first English-speaking rider to wear the leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Jean-Marie Leblanc, now the race director, remembers asking Elliot for an autograph as a teenager in Paris. Twenty-five years later Stephen Roche became Ireland's first winner of the race and, with Sean Kelly, left an enduring mark on the Tour de France and, more importantly, on Jean-Marie Leblanc.
Leblanc had said many times that the "major contribution" of both Kelly and Roche to the Tour was a strong factor in considering Ireland as a possible starting point. Roche was victorious in one of the most exciting Tours ever in 1987; Kelly won five stages as well as four overall green points jerseys as the most consistent finisher each day. Only two men have ridden more than Kelly's 14 Tours.
Leblanc, however, still needed some convincing about the logistics and technicalities of bringing the start to Ireland. Pat McQuaid was the man to convince him. Back in 1995 he set about researching what was necessary to bring the race here. McQuaid has had considerable experience in organising big-time cycling races. He was behind the series of Nissan Classics back in the 1980s and, with UK cycling co-ordinator Alan Rushton, helped to organise the 1994 Tour de France start in England. Around the same time the Dublin International Sports Council was looking to bring major international events to Ireland, so McQuaid stepped in.
"I think they were a bit shocked when I mentioned bringing the Tour here," he says. "In fact the Tour has been starting outside France about every second year recently, and after starting in the UK I knew it was possible."
The next step was approaching Leblanc with the prospect and from there taking it to the Government for support. "Leblanc agreed that if we could get the Government backing and make it logistically possible there was no reason why the Tour could not come to Ireland. That set the wheels in motion, and it's been full steam ahead ever since."
The Government put up the £2.1 million necessary to "buy" the Tour, but the Societe de Tour de France, which looks after all the administrative affairs, gave plenty of assistance. It's the first time the Tour has had to cross a large body of water (it used the Channel Tunnel in 1994), and McQuaid and Rushton have worked closely with the organisers to ensure the race will get by without problems.
McQuaid and Rushton set up a company called L'Evenement to look after all the Tour's affairs in Ireland and began the long process of preparing the country for the biggest cycling race in the world.
"The most important thing was ensuring the authorities here knew just how big the Tour is," adds McQuaid. "Last year we had about 44 representatives from each of the local authorities follow the race in France as well as a number of gardai so they knew exactly what to expect."
The huge operation of transporting the Tour and its massive entourage took extensive planning. Eventually it was necessary to hire three Stena Line ships to carry all the equipment and race officials across from France and back again to continue the race.
After months of hard work the country is ready to welcome the Tour on the scale it deserves. Every road along the 390-km route has been resurfaced or repaired to immaculate condition, and the dozens of towns and villages along the way have organised festivals of greeting.
Dublin has been transformed into a cycling planet for the weekend. With every major road closed in the city centre, it's one glorious bike lane for the 189 riders who will race the city streets tomorrow afternoon. Eight pedestrian bridges have been constructed to ensure easy viewing access.
More importantly, the riders will be taking the three Irish stages very seriously. The prologue will decide which one wears the leader's yellow jersey on Sunday, when the race begins in earnest, starting initially from O'Connell Street and, officially, as the cyclists whizz through Dundrum. There are points available for the sprint leader and king of the mountains along the two longer routes.
There are few honours greater than a stage win in the Tour de France, and the cyclists will be giving their absolute to win that honour. It may a long way before they get to Paris, but Dublin - and Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Cork city and county - will certainly do for the moment as a chance to lead one of the biggest sporting occasions in the world.